Youths brighten up 2008 season

Greg Keane

The 2008 League of Ireland season will be remembered as a year of financial trouble and strife within the domestic game, with off-field financial woes such as examinership, player wages, point deductions and betting scandals just a number of negative issues this season that has led to many people believing that the League itself is in danger of ceasing to exist beyond the current campaign.

Amid all of the doom and gloom however, was the one real success story of the year that literally brightened up the domestic game – Wexford Youths FC. The amateur club with a squad comprised solely of players hailing from the county, had a major impact on the League in only their second season competing in senior football and firmly dispelled the belief that anyone may have had about an amateur side not contributing anything to the eircom League.

Mick Wallace's side began the season with the introduction of their unique and distinguishable bright pink strip. The jersey certainly caused a stir and Wexford manager Mick Wallace explained his decision to select the club's characteristic jersey.

"The first club to wear pink was actually Juventus in the 1920's, when it was really dangerous to wear it!" Wallace said. "I liked the Palermo pink jersey as well and it's amazing how peoples' perception of the colour changes though after they've seen the jersey. We haven't been able to keep them on the shelves, as most shops are sold out of them – they're very popular and the referee at one of home games recently even bought one.

"I was always fond of the colour and it's a challenge to the sad macho element in Irish society. Sure isn't it nice to be different."

Although a project still very much in its infancy, the community club of Wexford Youths captured the publics' imagination in only their second season and their spirit and attitude was clearly demonstrated with their remarkable eircom League Cup heroics that led to the club from the South East reaching and hosting the League Cup Final at Ferrycarrig Park in September.

The result against an experienced and talented Derry City side may not have gone the way of Wexford, but their famous victory over Cork City in the semi-final at Turner's Cross with a starting line-up averaging an age of just 20 and resultant staging of the showpiece event, was a real high point in this year's season.

The core ethos of the club is structured on its underage sides - a point that owner and manager Mick Wallace regularly emphasises – and Wallace's concentration on this level was rewarded with an historic victory in the FAI Youth Cup final against Dundalk in May.

Wexford's under-18 side defeated the Lillywhites 4-0 in the final at Ferrycarrig Park, with Danny Furlong grabbing all four goals in the club's maiden outing in the competition. Wallace also added an FAI Youth Inter League triumph to cap a truly remarkable year for his under-18 sides.

Conor Sinnott, a product Wallace's underage sides who captained the Wexford Inter League side to All-Ireland glory in 2005, is one of three players nominated for the prestigious Ford PFAI Player of the Year award and is again named on the PFAI Ford First Division Team of the Year.   

The surface at Ferrycarrig Park has been lauded by visiting sides this season and Wexford Groundsman, Seanie O'Shea, was nominated for the Groundsman of the Year award and was announced as runner up this week behind Galway's Terryland Park. One award that Wexford would surely win is that of the best food in the League, as Wallace put it, "we give the opposition the best food in the League, which is usually a nice pasta and salad, so I think that combined with the quality of our pitch is why teams enjoy coming to Ferrycarrig Park so much!"  

Wexford Youths supporters are a dedicated and ingenious group of fans, which was demonstrated earlier in the season away to Longford when arguably the greatest chant ever heard in Irish domestic football was born: "Shoes off if you love the Youths, shoes off if you love the Youths," proceeded by a collective taking-off of the shoes and waving their footwear in the air.

The positives far outweighed the negatives for the Youths this season, but the season did not go without some unnecessary controversies.

Wexford Youths FC manager and owner Mick Wallace expressed his disappointment after the club was not invited to attend the special 'Late Late Show' that was broadcast from Wexford in September.

The new season of 'The Late Late Show' began with a special show broadcast from the Wexford Opera House, but eircom League Cup finalists and double All-Ireland under-18 winners Wexford Youths, received no invitation to attend the show, despite the Wexford football, hurling and camogie teams requested to attend. 

"It beggars belief that Wexford Youths were completely ignored," Wallace said at the time. "The thinking behind this is very sad indeed. Soccer is the most popular sport in the country with over 450,000 participants, but we are still treated as second class citizens by the establishment."

Wexford were also involved in another incident that received a huge amount of media attention, when Limerick refused to fulfil the First Division fixture in October. Over 500 supporters turned up to Ferrycarrig Park on a wet and windswept Monday evening for the club's first home game following the League Cup Final at the same venue the previous week, but were left very disappointed when the visitors boarded their team bus after complaining about the warm up pitch that every team in the League – including Limerick – had warmed up on for the previous 18 months.

Limerick were subsequently fined and Wexford were awarded the three points and a 3-0 win.

Shane Dempsey became the first current Wexford Youths player to be capped by his country when he appeared for the Ireland under-19 side; while the Youths' most decorated former player Kevin Doyle's International career has continued to flourish. The Youths also made their first TV appearance on RTE's Monday soccer when they hosted St Pats in the FAI Ford Cup, which was shortly followed by the truly historic occasion of hosting the League Cup Final that was shown live on Setanta Sports.

Wexford manager Mick Wallace also publicly encouraged the FAI to appoint a foreign manger – ideally an Italian - following Steve Staunton's departure as Republic of Ireland boss and Giovanni Trapattoni was of course appointed a few months after.    

It has been a truly eventful second season for the First Division club and Wexford have certainly had a major impact on the League and generally for all the right reasons, which is a positive and welcome change from the strife that dogged the 2008 campaign.  

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